sandr077

I cooked lentils for the first time... exciting! Right?  Since working full time and having a baby... cooking anything intensive is out of the question.  One thing that I have found really helpful is to make something in a larger quantity that we can eat 2 or even three nights.  Quinoa is easy for this- which I have talked about before.  I wanted to find another option apart from Quinoa (which I love) which is fairly easy to cook, reheats well and is good for you. We ate these lentils with a pork chop one night and with my weekly roast chicken another night.  They are tasty and hearty.  The husband enjoyed the lentils... but still prefers quinoa. Here is the recipe I used.  It is an Emeril recipe from the Food Network website. Ingredients 1/4 pound bacon, diced 1/4 cup small diced  celery  (I left this out as I don't like celery) 1/4 cup small diced  onion 1/4 cup small diced  carrot  (bought the baby carrots in a bag and just...

So, we live in a Royal Barry Wills House.  He was a popular architect in the 1940's and was from the town next to mine.  He was known for his cape and colonial designs.  Ours is a center entrance colonial. Apparently it was a "show house" and as a result it has some extra bells and whistles.  It has amazing moldings, wainscotting and historic details.   I love our house for these very details. In addition to these historic details, we have a "wierd" room which I have mentioned before.  It is a room in our basement.  It is a finished room in an unfinished basement which is wierd in itself.  It is so finished in that it has a full fireplace in it.   Nice touch... right?   When we moved in it was a room in disarray.  It smelled like cats and was quite gross.  The previous owners had not used it at all, so who really knows when it had last had visitors!   When we first moved, in the husband took over the room as "Man Town"....

Okay, I need an intervention.  I love coats.   I also love off season shopping because of the deals you find!  Now that we have a baby and cannot do anything on Saturday nights... we have found ourselves walking the mall.  Yes, this is sad and pathetic, but not as sad and pathetic as sitting on our couch! :) I stumbled across a coat at Macy's by French connection it was $250.  No thanks.  This led me to check out the French Connection website (not one of my regular sites).  Coat . .. $119 (originally $368).... um yes, that is a good deal and this is a cute coat! Love me a ruffle ! :)  I need a 12 step... seriously I do!  Until next time...xoxo

Okay, since being back at work and having a baby- time is limited!  VERY limited.  Dinner does not happen unless it is easy and unless it is planned.  As I mentioned before one thing that I do that works brillantly is that I roast a chicken every Sunday.  My favorite recipe is this one.  Roasting a chicken is great because you get two meals out of it.  The night after we roast the chicken I use the rest of the meat and put it in pasta.  I often put in in pasta with fresh pesto that I have stored in our freezer.  I got this idea from my co-worker LE who said her mom always makes her fresh pesto. For those of you that have tuned out thinking it is too difficult.  Making pesto is the easiest thing ever.  Seriously, it is!  You just need a food processor and before you know it... voila!    I make a ton and  freeze it in small plastic containers (portion sized for one meal) and throw them in the freezer.   If you don'...

So, as I blogged about- we have hopes of building a LARGE built in in our family room .  This will be great as we desperately need the storage and I love all things built in!    When the built in is complete we plan to replace our family room furniture.  Our current couch and loveseat have truly seen better days!  I bought it cheaply in my single days it the cushions are saggy and lumpy.  The worst part is that the light khaki color is now dirty and spotted and dingy! I will be more practical in my next couch purchase and go with something easy to spot clean and darker in color (likely chocolate brown).  Something that will hide dirty fingerprints!   I also want to maximize the space and put in as much seating as we can.  This means that I want to get rid of couch and loveseat and replace with double couches and maybe two chairs!  I love the double couch look... especially when you have a huge room.  Who does not want more seating!?...

Yes, swimsuit weather will be here before you know it!  Last summer I was pregnant, so this summer will be a "new season" in so many respects.  My bikini days are over.... even if I was happy wearing one, I cannot imagine carrying a baby around and being "active" in a bikini.  I am a practical gal! I bought a cute bathing suit at Target a few years ago and was happy to see it back again in a tankini version and in a myriad of colors!  I had bought the black one a few years ago.  I now just bought the purple one (my favorite color) in the tankini version.  It is super cute- you can wear the strap (or not).  I think it is retro and hip and still cool for a young mom (well not that young). There are other colors (slate, pink, red, teal) and also versions in stripes or polka dots!  For $34.99 (one piece) or &19.99 (tankini top) or $17.99 (bikini bottom).  I think it is practical, yet stylish!  Get a few!   Until next time.....xoxo

Okay... it has been a rough week, hence no blog posts.  I am going to try to get my butt back in blogging gear next week!  In the meantime I am digging into my "files" where I save random photos that I like.   How cute are these wall fish tanks?  Could be so cute in a playroom or kids room! Neither of these photos "style" the fish bowls in a cool way, but there is so much possibility!  Okay, that is my random post.  Next week I will get it together... promise! :) Until next time...xoxo